Newcastle United filed their full accounts with Companies House on Monday – and the revelations added to the debate about Mike Ashley’s running of the club.

With boycotts planned, the club on the back of a five-match losing streak and the squad in disarray, here’s a few lessons to take from the accounts.

1, THERE IS MONEY IN THE BANK WHICH WE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

When Newcastle United declared profits just under £19 million it was not necessarily an entirely accurate picture of how much money they have.

The revelation of the full accounts is that United have £34.1million sitting in the bank to go alongside those profits, which is a far healthier and more accurate portrait of their financial position. Crucially it also probably gives us an idea of how much the club are going to spend in the summer.

While many might smell a rat, there is nothing untoward in this practice. Plenty of clubs and businesses do it. The bigger issue is why Newcastle have done it – and why, at a football club that is facing boycotts over its apparent lack of ambition, that money wasn’t spent when they had the chance.

As Mag editor Mark Jensen said: “The accounts show that all this cash was generated and the question a lot of fans would ask (is) why was a significant portion of that not spent on team strengthening?”

The club aren’t expanding on it – and didn’t in their accounts. From this point of view, and with talk of a boycott gathering momentum, it looks like an error not to have spent it.

John Carver, head coach of Newcastle United (Image: 2015 Getty Images)

2, THERE IS MONEY TO SPEND THIS SUMMER – BUT MAYBE NOT AS MUCH AS IS NEEDED

John Carver has talked long and loud about investment this summer and reckons the targets being spoken about by the Newcastle United hierarchy will excite supporters.

But the accounts give us a very clear picture of the sort of money available to Newcastle in the close season – and it isn’t going to be the £60million that they probably need to refresh a squad that isn’t fit for purpose.

The best case scenario looks like around £30million – maybe the money in the bank – but anything more will have to be raised by player sales. Given the size of the task ahead of Newcastle – remember they are likely to allow their three senior out-of-contract players to leave in the summer – is that really going to be enough?

It’s going to take Graham Carr’s best ever summer, and a manager with the deft touch of a genius, to get Newcastle motoring again. Realistically, given the rest of the club’s recruitment philosophy, it looks like a route to more of the same.

Newcastle Chairman Mike Ashley (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

3, MIKE ASHLEY IS AN INCREDIBLY, EYE-BULGINGLY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN

The Newcastle accounts came out a day after the accounts for Mike Ashley’s MASH Holdings Group, which is all of his business interests, was published.

And whatever your thoughts on the United owner and his attitude to the club, it is impossible to deny he is a phenomenal businessman. His companies have made a profit of £520million in the last year.

This has always been a huge frustration of those who follow Newcastle. Why can’t he apply his tremendous acumen to turning United into a success story on and off-the-field?

Perhaps the answer is that he is applying the business model that made those other companies successful. The ‘pile them high’ philosophy of Sports Direct is now what Newcastle are doing, and it doesn’t look too pretty – even if we do see profits and money in the bank.

St James Park

4, THERE HAS BEEN A BIG INCREASE IN WAGES – AND COSTS

Staff costs went up by £16.6million in the last year, which is a huge amount for a club that now forensically studies the bottom line and has cut complimentary tickets for players and staff. Much of that can be put down to the January spending spree last year, which added a clutch of French players to the books.

It still seems lop-sided, though. One suggestion is that the top ten bonus that was triggered by the club last season can account for some of it, although that’s not recorded in the accounts.

Amortisation – an accountancy term which takes account of the rising or decreasing value of the squad in the long-term – has also gone up.

Interestingly, director pay has gone down at United. The highest paid director is now on £107,000 – down from £177,000 last year. Wages to turnover is now near 60%, which is close to what the club want it to be. In that respect, they’ve enjoyed a “success”.

Newcastle United fans

5, NEWCASTLE UNITED ARE THE ONLY MAJOR SPORTING INSTITUTION IN THE NORTH EAST TO TURN A PROFIT

Newcastle Falcons, Middlesbrough and Sunderland have all filed accounts now and all have made a loss. Newcastle United are the only ones to turn a profit.

Does that mean success? Perhaps we should ask those outside – and many inside – the stadium on Sunday. It is just one side of the coin.

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